SIMPLE HEALING TOOLS

INTRODUCTION

Embracing change can be a
difficult and challenging endeavor. We all know, however, that change is
inevitable — nothing is static. Just as the cells in our bodies are
in a continual state of change, with every new thought, our minds change
and expand. With every new birth and every death, our world changes. The
universe itself is in a continual state of growth and expansion. Because
we all are part of this ever changing universe, it serves us to pay attention
and to heed the call when it becomes apparent that we need to make a change
in our lives.

There will be early signs that begin to nudge us, gently at first, to let
us know it is time to make a change. It may begin simply as an uncomfortable
or restless feeling. In those early stages, if we take the time to examine
the feeling, we can often make the needed shift without too much disruption
in our lives. However, if we ignore the initial nudging, the signs become
more apparent until we have no choice but to pay attention.

Even though it may appear the signs are coming from outside of us, the truth
is they are coming from deep within us to let us know it is time to grow
beyond our perceived limitations. The longer we choose to ignore these inner
promptings, the more uncomfortable our lives become until we finally pay
attention and make the necessary change. I think of our response to these
promptings as a transformational healing journey. My hope is you will find
the stories within these pages, and the tools I share, to be of service
to you on your own journey of personal transformation and healing.

I believe we are all spiritual beings and one of our primary goals as humans
is to remember and awaken to our spiritual essence. This often entails undergoing
a profound spiritual experience—some call it an awakening. In the
pages of this book, I take you on my own transformational healing journey.
It began in 1985 when I responded to a not so gentle inner nudge prompting
me to make a major change in my life. I divorced my husband of twenty years
and moved with my three children from our comfortable home in Wisconsin
to the unfamiliar landscape of the San Francisco Bay Area.

This set the stage in the summer of 1991 for my transformational awakening.
My oldest daughter, Kris, was living on her own in California and my fourteen-year-old
son, Greg, had been living with his father in Indiana for two years. My
twelve-year-old daughter, Liz, who was living at home with me, became the
victim of a gang of girls who were threatening her on her way home from
school every day. The school authorities told me they could do nothing since
it didn’t take place on school property. The police told me they could
do nothing unless she was actually attacked. Thus, Liz was living in a continual
state of fear. In speaking with my ex-husband about the situation, he suggested
it might be best if Liz came to live with him in Indiana. This idea ripped
open my heart — this was my baby! How could I send her that far away?
I told him this was not a decision I could make — it was a decision
that only Liz could make.

Liz really didn’t know her father as we had separated when she was three
years old. However, after talking it over with her, she decided that she
wanted to give it a try. So, in the summer of 1991, I flew with Liz to my
parents’ home in Wisconsin. Her father drove from Indiana to pick
her up and take her back with him.

Words cannot fully describe the emotional upheaval I was feeling. However,
as I look back I realize the Universe was working in wondrous ways. While
in Wisconsin I visited with a dear friend who gifted me with a book, saying
it had changed her life. I read it on the plane trip back to California.

The book, The World Beyond by Ruth Montgomery, was the first metaphysical
book I had ever read. I found it awakened in me a memory of when I was three
years old, telling my mother, “When I get born again, I want to have
you and daddy as parents again.”

I remember my mom asking, “What do you mean when you get born again?”

“You know,” I responded, “when I get born again.”

Mom looked at me and said, “Honey, people don’t get born again.
We all get born, we live our lives, and then we die and go to heaven.”

I remember thinking, “How come she doesn’t know that’s not
the way it works?” But, being only three, I wasn’t equipped
to have a philosophical conversation about reincarnation. So, it was never
mentioned again and my Catholic upbringing definitely buried any idea of
reincarnation. The thought laid dormant in my subconscious to be awakened
45 years later by Ruth Montgomery!!

I was so inspired by the ideas in the book that I bought all 10 books written
by Ruth Montgomery. I also bought 10 copies of A World Beyond and sent them
to friends and relatives in Wisconsin, hoping they would be as inspired
by the book as I was. Upon receiving my gift, however, many of them actually
became concerned for me, thinking that I might have joined a cult now that
I was living alone in California without my kids!

I mark the reading of that book, however, as the beginning of my conscious
spiritual awakening. In October of 1991, I was introduced to Reiki, a Japanese
energy technique that promotes healing. The ability to use Reiki is transferred
to the student during an attunement (or initiation process) given by a Reiki
master. In October and December that year I received my first and second
attunements. Within a year I had received all the attunements and became
a Reiki Master-Teacher. I found that each attunement opened me more and
more to my spiritual nature.

The simple, transformational and powerful tools I share with you in this book
are those that I have discovered and used since that initial spiritual awakening.
Over the years I have shared them with friends and clients, witnessing their
healing power, and have come to believe that one of my purposes in this
lifetime is to develop and share these simple healing tools with a wider
audience. This book is a way for me to do that.

My belief is that planetary healing begins with each one of us taking the
steps necessary to heal and empower ourselves. My hope is you will find
within these pages, stories and processes helpful to you as you travel your
own healing path to personal empowerment and inner peace.